Exhibition of the Museum of African Art on display at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana
“Styled in Africa: African Hairdresser and Barbershop Signs” Exhibition and catalogue by Nataša Njegovanovic-Ristic, MAA senior curator
The Slovene Ethnographic Museum www.etno-muzej.si 2, Metelkova street, Ljubljana
Exhibition opening: December 8th 2011, at 6 p.m. The exhibition will be on display at SEM until February 26th 2012
Visiting exhibition “Styled in Africa: African Hairdresser and Barbershop Signs” is a result of international cooperation between the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana and the Museum of African Art in Belgrade. The inaugural speech at the exhibition opening was given by Predrag Filipov (PhD), ambassador of Serbia in Slovenia, Bojana Rogelj Škafar (PhD), director of SEM, and Narcisa Knežević Šijan, director of MAA.
Media attention by Daily newspaper "Delo" link TV Slovenija (1) link
Visiting exhibition “Styled in Africa: African Hairdresser and Barbershop Signs”
is a result of international cooperation between the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana and the Museum of African Art in Belgrade. The inaugural speech at the exhibition opening was given by Predrag Filipov (PhD), ambassador of Serbia in Slovenia,Bojana Rogelj Škafar (PhD), director of SEM, and Narcisa Knežević Šijan, director of MAA.
SOUTH AFRICA - MEETING POINT
Presenting contemporary South African culture
23 - 25 September 2011
The Museum of African Art in Belgrade, in collaboration with “Africa Village”, a South African NGO dedicated to the cultural development of Africa, following a successful exhibition in the famed “Museum Quarter” in Vienna, is organising an exclusive exhibition of contemporary works of art of some of the most well known South African artists SOUTH AFRICA - MEETING POINT, as well as an exhibition of modern design and traditional crafts. Besides the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to take part in interactive workshops. This event will take place from Friday, 23/09 until Sunday, 25/09/2011, in the Museum of African Art in Belgrade, Andre Nikolića 14, from 12:00h to 22:00h. The opening ceremony of the exhibition will be held on Thursday, 22/09, beginning at 20h.
This event will premiere to the Belgrade public a unique collection - the artworks of 15 contemporary South African artists. The exhibition explores layers of contemporary cultural production, and the meanings that inform the understanding of such productions. The visitors will be presented with original works of art from leading contemporary South African artists, such as Mary Sibande, Mbongeni Buthelezi, Sam Nhlengethwa and Lawrence Lemaoana. In addition to the works of art, this event will also present new tendencies in interior design – unique pieces of furniture and decorative objects from the Moya Afrika collection. The exclusive “Ardmore” collection, highly valued in worldwide auctions, will also for the first time be introduced to the Belgrade public, and will be available for purchase.
Most of the artists are based in Johannesburg - a city that is perceived as an economic and cultural engine of the entire African continent. A careful selection by curator Bongani Mkhonza, with the assistance of Clive Sergay, presents unique works of art, created from the most imaginative materials. The use of a whole array of different materials simultaneously bares covert imagery and offers a conceptual message, open to interpretation.
The event SOUTH AFRICA - MEETING POINT will also include creative craft workshops for teenagers and young adults. These workshops will allow the participants to become familiar with South African art. The visiting artists at the Museum of African Art will be craftsmen from South Africa, who will demonstrate to the participants the methods of crafting wire and bead objects, as well as basket-making techniques. This unique event in the Museum of African Art will give the visitors an opportunity to enliven their visit to the Museum by participating in the creative process with the visiting artists.
Entrance to this event – exhibition, workshops and accompanying programme – is free of charge.
All organised groups of visitors interested in participating in the creative workshops, should confirm the time of their visit to the Museum curators in advance, by Monday 19/09 at the latest.
Contact persons in the Museum: Srđan Tunić and Ivana Vojt, tel. no.: (011)2651-654
Africa Village – contact person: Đorđe Pjevović, tel. no.: 062/124-00-74
Programme (23 - 25 September)
An annual event dedicated to the culture of South Africa will take place for the third consecutive year in the Museum of African Art, under the name South Africa Meeting Point. This year, the three-day programme is dedicated to the contemporary artistic production and traditional crafts of the culturally rich Free State region. Through the exhibition and creative workshops, the Museum will over several days become a meeting point for the visitors: the curators, artists and general public.
Friday, 23/09
12h The Exhibition “South Africa ART Meeting Point” is open to the public
13h-15h Creative workshops: South African crafts – crafting techniques
The workshops will allow the participants to learn the techniques of crafting wire and bead objects, with the assistance of the visiting craftsmen. Dynamic workshops with the visiting craftsmen shift the definition of the hands-on approach (which in museums involves the possibility of touching the museum artefacts). This will enable the participants to learn the techniques of crafting the various objects, as well as allowing them to carry that knowledge, according to the principle of transferring tradition between generations within a culture, with them after visiting the Museum, share it, or use it in their further professional and creative work.
During the workshops, the curators of the Museum of African Art will interpret the meanings,traditional symbols and the contemporary use of the objects created.
19h Walk – talk: Mr. Dan Andrew Mokhuwe Kgothule and Mrs. Narcisa Knežević-Šijan
Visitors will have the exclusive opportunity, in conversation with the Minister of Culture, Art and Sports of the Free State, Mr. Dan Andrew Mokhuwe Kgothule, to become better acquainted with the social milieu in which the visiting artists create, whose artworks will be displayed as part of the exhibition during the three programme days. The Minister will also offer insight into the cultural and economic importance of supporting the development of arts in the modern South Africa.
20h Branko Trijić, guitarist and drummer, with djembe drummers: “African jam session”
Saturday, 24/09
12h The Exhibition “South Africa ART Meeting Point” is open to the public
13h-15h Creative workshops: South African crafts – crafting techniques
The workshops will allow the participants to learn the techniques of crafting wire and bead objects, with the assistance of the visiting craftsmen. Dynamic workshops with the visiting craftsmen shift the definition of the hands-on approach (which in museums involves the possibility of touching the museum artefacts). This will enable the participants to learn the techniques of crafting the various objects, as well as allowing them to carry that knowledge, according to the principle of transferring tradition between generations within a culture, with them after visiting the Museum, share it, or use it in their further professional and creative work. During the workshops, the curators of the Museum of African Art will interpret the meanings,traditional symbols and the contemporary use of the objects created.
19h Walk – talk: public tour of the exhibition by curator Mr. Bongani Mkhonza and Mrs. Narcisa Knežević-Šijan
The exhibition curator, Mr. Bongani Mkhonza, will present to the visitors the contemporary art of South Africa, based on the exhibited artworks. The visitors will become acquainted with the techniques of production of the displayed artworks, their cultural significance and artistic value. Topics will include the significance of creating artwork out of recycled materials, as well as the dynamic relationship between ecology and artistic creation on the entire African continent.
20h Film screening: „Ernest Mancoba at home“, dir. Bridget Thompson, 1994, Republic of South Africa
Sunday, 25/09
12h The Exhibition “South Africa ART Meeting Point” is open to the public
13h-15h Creative workshops: South African crafts – crafting techniques
The workshops will allow the participants to learn the techniques of crafting wire and bead objects, with the assistance of the visiting craftsmen. Dynamic workshops with the visiting craftsmen shift the definition of the hands-on approach (which in museums involves the possibility of touching the museum artefacts). This will enable the participants to learn the techniques of crafting the various objects, as well as allowing them to carry that knowledge, according to the principle of transferring tradition between generations within a culture, with them after visiting the Museum, share it, or use it in their further professional and creative work. During the workshops, the curators of the Museum of African Art will interpret the meanings, traditional symbols, and the contemporary use of the objects created.
20h Branko Trijić, guitarist and drummer, with djembe drummers: “African jam session”
The Museum of African Art 25th and 26th February 2011. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Museum of African Art in Belgrade in cooperation with the ’’Africa Village’’ NGO for art and cultural development of Africa, is organising SOUTH AFRICA – LIVE! Crafts&Drums. This event will be held on Friday, 25th and Saturday, 26th February 2011 from 11 a.m. till 5 p.m., at The Museum of African Art, Andre Nikolića 14.
The SOUTH AFRICA – LIVE! Crafts&Drums event consists of creative workshops for children and students. The aim of these workshops is to familiarise the participants with the arts of South Africa. Artists from South Africa will be the Museum’s guests and will demonstrate their craftsmanship of Wire Art, miniature wood sculptures, as well as the technique of making baskets from telephone wire. The children will also have the opportunity to participate in the Apron Workshop, making aprons characteristic for the Ndebele people, as well to learn how to play drums and get to know the traditional dance rhythms of South Africa. The event at The Museum of African Art is an opportunity for children and students to visit the Museum in a different way – to take part in the creative process with the guest artists. The entrance to the event is free of charge and open to all interested in to get in touch with the cultures of SOUTH AFRICA – LIVE!
We ask the participants to arrive on time.
Museum in action / Action in Museum: During this event only, the MAA will provide a special discount of 20% for all of its publications, in particular we recommend Jewelry of Ethiopia, A.P. Bojović, African musical instruments, A. Gojković, as well as the MAA’s monograph, The Museum of African Art, the Collection of Veda and dr Zdravko Pečar, group of authors.
For more information, please call the MAA, during working hours (weekdays 10-18h):
tel. 011.2651654
Programme (25th and 26th February):
Youth creative workshops (high school and university students):
12-14h Three workshops of South African crafts will be held simultaneously at the MAA
1) Applied art workshop ’’Wire artworks’’ 2) Applied art workshop ’’The world of sculptures’’ 3) Applied art workshop ’’Telephone-wire basketry’’
The participants in the workshops will have a chance to learn directly from the South African artists how to make objects made of wire, how to make miniature wood sculptures, and how to make baskets from colourful telephone wires. The Museum’s guests will give account of their crafts and technique, while the Museums’ curators will provide an explanation of the cultural importance of these objects to the visitors. The participants of the workshops will have an opportunity to make a South African work of art.
Creative workshops for children (age 7-12):
11-12h Drum musical workshop ’’Rhythm of South Africa’’
The MAA curators will tell the children a story about African drums, their shapes and meanings. The children will have the opportunity to test their skills in drum playing and learn traditional South African rhythms.
14-15h Fine art workshop ’’Ndebele aprons’’
The children will have the opportunity to hear an interesting story from the MAA curator about the aprons, part of the traditional costume of the Ndebele people from South Africa. After that, all the children will draw the aprons and make a small art piece. The Museum’s visit will entertain the children and provide a journey to the heart of imagination, by observing the shapes, researching forms and colours, and interpreting the artworks.
15-16h Drum musical workshop with Branko Trijić, percussionist from Belgrade
The MAA curators will tell the children a story about African drums, their shapes and meanings. The children will have the opportunity to test their skills in drum playing and learn traditional South African rhythms.
16-17h Fine art workshop ’’Ndebele aprons’’
The children will have the opportunity to hear an interesting story from the MAA curator about the aprons, part of the traditional costume of the Ndebele people from South Africa. After that, all the children will draw the aprons and make a small art piece. The Museum’s visit will entertain the children and provide a journey to the heart of imagination, by observing the shapes, researching forms and colours, and interpreting the artworks.
Following the event Africa Village (September 9-12th, Genex Impuls Hall), the Museum of African Art in Belgrade held a two-day event dedicated to the arts and crafts of South Africa. The Museum of African Art organised a demonstration of South African art, focusing on the techniques and tools used to create jewellery, wire objects and baskets. Film screenings in the MAA interior were scheduled for 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. The crafts demonstration and film screenings aimed at presenting and promoting the creativity of South Africa, in Serbia and the region.
The program was realised in cooperation with makhaya arts & cultural development
Exclusive concert - Cheick Tidiane Seck sextet – 5th of June 2010, at 21h, Museum of African Art in Belgrade, featuring : Cheick Tidiane Seck – keyboards, vocal Guimba Kouyate – guitar, talking drum Alioune Wade – bass guitar Yoann Schmidt – drums Fatoumata Diawara – vocal Igor Vincetić – congas, djembe, callebass
Tickets - 690 din.
On sale from 24th of May at Bilet servis, Mamut and the Museum of African Art.
After party @ gafe ( Guitar Art Cafe ), Dvorana Kulturnog centra Beograda.
Cheick-Tidiane Seck, keyboardist, composer, and performer of popular and traditional Malian music, is one of the most prolific, experienced, and highly appreciated musicians from the Manding-speaking region of West Africa. He possesses a rich and undeniably interesting history, filled with a diverse range of musical encounters with such artists as Salif Keita, Mory Kante, Fela Kuti, Youssou N'Dour, Hank Jones, Carlos Santana, Joe Zawinul, and a host of others. As keyboardist, composer, bandleader, singer, arranger, modern and traditional musician, Seck presents a telling portrayal of the varied and complex nature of the musician in West Africa, one that often features the mixing of cultures and regions, contemporary and "traditional," and global and local.
Seck's childhood was spent learning the local traditions of his Manding cultural heritage, but like many West African musicians, he looked toward Western popular music for a new, complementary source of inspiration. During the early 1970s, Seck played with the hugely successful Rail Band du Buffet Hotel de la Gare in Bamako, Mali, with Mory Kante and Salif Keita. During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Seck continued to play with Keita, both in the famed Les Ambassadeurs, but also on various solo projects of Keita's, such as the hugely successful and influential album "Soro“. The 1980s and 1990s have witnessed continued success and activity for Seck, both in his extensive worldwide recording and touring, as well as his collaboration with jazz pianist Hank Jones on the respected album "Sarala" in 1995.
From January to March 2000, Seck has been invited by the University of California- Los Angeles to teach “African music meets Jazz”.
For thirty-five years, the Malian organist is part of all musical adventures, from jazz to African music, India, international groove or French pop and hip hop.
A veteran of the legendary Rail Band du Buffet Hotel de la Gare de Bamako, a founding member of Les Asselars, he became a mainstay of the fertile Ivorian scene of the late 1970s. He finally settled in Paris in 1985, in full explosion of African music, where he is fast becoming known as one of the most valiant of session and live musicians of his generation. For many years, music lovers enjoy, along with Hank Jones, Ornette Coleman, Living Color, Salif Keita, Amadou & Mariam, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Joe Zawinul, his personal touch, vibration nourished by black American music, always made the difference. Backbone of contemporary Malian music scene, he comes to produce and arrange new records expected, like Oumou Sangare, Kassé Mady Diabaté and Sory Bamba, which we cross on his new album.
Seck’s exquisite album „Sabaly“ (2008), recorded in Bamako, hosted numerous guest-artists and friends: Manu Dibango, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Guy Nsangue, Paco Sery, Oumou Sangare, Toumani Diabate, Amadou & Mariam, Bassekou Kouyate, Kasse Mady Diabate, Habib Koite, Kaniba Woule, Mangala Camara, Djelimady Tounkara, Baba Salah i Petit Adama...
Immaculate boubou, big smile and cellular phone on the ears, we inevitably end by cross Cheick Tidiane Seck in Bamako nights.
The multidisciplinary event South Africa Village will present the cultural, tourist and business scene of South Africa through exhibitions, concerts and other programs. The event will include two visual art exhibitions, the presentation of traditional crafts otherwise part of the sale exhibition, Zulu dance performances, concerts, as well as the presentation of South African tourism and trade. The event will also include the entire display of the Moya Africa Gallery, that opened a year ago within The Museum of African Art. Inside 14 constructed huts, erected in the Museum and Museum garden, visitors will be able to observe the manufacture of crafts, art pieces, jewelry, decorations, interior design materials, and will also have the opportunity to taste South African wines. Each ethnic hut will have its presenter dressed in traditional costume explaining the unique practice of clothing, accoutrement and color and sign adornment that have been preserved by the Zulu, Xosa, Ndebele, Swazi, Venda, Shoto (Kololo i Mzilazi), Shangan and Tswana peoples throughout the centuries.
The AFRICAN VILLEGE is organized in Belgrade as part of the Month of South African Culture celebrated worldwide. From September 11th - 13th, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. visitors will have free entrance to the ethnic village and the performances of Zulu group Amagawe (“heroes”) commencing at 3 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. The ensemble of Zulu performers and their dynamic dance will be the highlight of each day. The astounding Zulu dancers, known throughout history as shield and spear baring warriors, dressed in strips of leopard hide, demonstrating agile movements and acrobatics, perform the traditional dance deeply rooted in Zulu culture. The profuse rhythms created by the equally gifted drummers, make the spectacle a truly memorable experience.
The AFRICAN VILLEGE will also host South African music star Zolani Mkiwa, locally known as Poet of the Nation. Zolani Mkiwa has since childhood performed as an imbongi; following African tradition, the imbongi in African are the honorary citizens that use different creative techniques and improvisations, singing in praise of exceptional people. Halala South Africa, his first album as solo artist, Zolani Mkiwa released in 1997 announcing successful albums that followed. He collaborated with some of the greatest names in African music, among others the famous Benin-born French artist Angelique Kidjo, signing the intro for her album Voodoo Child.
South Africa Village is the first event of this type in the region. The main objective is the promotion of South African culture, tourism and trade in Serbia, and the establishing of a more profound cultural dialogue between the two cultures from different continents.
The organizers of South Africa Village in Belgrade are Minatar Ltd (Belgrade/Johannesburg), NGO Makhaya Arts and Cultural Development (Johannesburg) and the Museum of African Art in Belgrade.
Activities 
